Computer tomography compared with spectrophotometry of cerebrospinal fluid in cerebrovascular diseases.

Eighty patients with cerebrovascular diseases were examined by computer tomography and spectrophotometry of CSF, most cases being followed by repeat examinations. Specific diagnoses were obtained in 76 per cent of the cases at tomography and in 95 per cent at spectrophotometry, generally at one examination. In cases examined angiographically or by isotope encephalography, the corresponding figures were 60 and 58 per cent. Twenty patients with confirmed haemorrhage or infarction examined only at tomography further indicated the high diagnostic significance of this method. The combination of tomography and spectrophotometry, being complementary to each other, obviously means a break-through in the diagnosis of cerebrovascular diseases, which is a prerequisite for a more rational therapy of these common and frequently disabling disorders.